OSCARS 2023: Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Not that long ago, I saw a tweet that compared "The Menu," "Infinity Pool," and "Triangle of Sadness," saying that we need to stop making "this movie." Presumably, by this kind of movie, that person meant films critical of the rich and portraying them as depraved or foolish. I disagree. I think this is an evergreen moral. As long as the rich continue to act in that manner, making movies about it will remain a valid exercise. In a time when a billionaire purchases a social media platform and proceeds to act like a doofus on it every day, or when a failed game show host cons his way into the highest office in the country and tries to dismantle democracy, stories that criticize the rich should be expected. Moreover, I don't think these three movies have all that much in common. (Outside of "Infinity Pool" and "Triangle of Sadness" both being distributed by NEON.) The most prominent difference is that "The Menu" and "Infinity Pool" are genre efforts, rift with bodily dismemberment, while "Triangle of Sadness" is an arch satire that has been surprisingly well received by the Academy Awards. 

Aspiring male model Carl is dating successful model and social media influencer Yaya, though their relationship is filled with tension. The two are invited to join a luxury cruise upon a super yacht, captained by a neurotic Marxist. On the journey, they meet rich eccentrics like a Russian manure magnate or a friendly pair of war profiteers. Among the clientele is an old woman who insists the staff go for a swim with her. This sets up a chain of events that lead to mass food poisoning and the yacht drifting into hostile territory, where it's exploded by pirates. The survivors – including Carl and Yaya – wash up on an island and find the social structure they're used to living with overturned. 

"Triangle of Sadness" is, obviously, a movie about class division. Specifically, it strikes me as a film about an inability to communicate across these boundaries. The woman who insists the staff swim with her is repeatedly rebuffed but refuses to take no for an answer. When the food sickness hits, a rich woman is told to drink some water but instead demands champagne. Carl, implied to come from a poor background, is unable to connect with Yaya... Until they enact some class based sexual role playing, where he pretends to be a blue-collar plumber come to service Yaya's pipes. (So to speak.) Maybe the most blatant indicator of this theme is a guest on the boat who recently had a stroke and literally can't talk with people. When she meets a native merchant in the last third, she simply can't make herself understood. It seems the master/servant relationship is the only way these two social strata can relate to each other. 

It's fairly evident where writer/director Ruben Östlund's sympathies lie. The upper class rich folks are repeatedly portrayed as hilariously out-of-touch. The Captain, played by Woody Harrelson at his most pontificating, is so neurotic that he doesn't even leave his cabin that often. As the boat starts to drift, rolling back and forth through rough waters at askew angles, the captain has a heated debate with the Russian oligarch. These two men are so cluelessly focused on their own squabbling – explicitly about the differences between Marxism and capitalism – that they don't even notice the boat careening out-of-control around them. Meanwhile, the staff of the boat, the cooks and maids and mechanics and supervisors, are just trying to keep everything in order. The woman who demands a henpecked staff member swims with her is good natured, desiring to switch the script on who is serving and who is being served. But she is fixated on her own wants, unaware that her request will have serious consequences for the whole boat. The rich childishly bicker and want their every wish fulfilled, while the working class are just scrambling around and trying to make sure the literal and metaphorical boat doesn't crash. 

Somewhat inevitably, it all leads to disaster. The first two parts of "Triangle of Sadness" are much more compelling, as they focus on the simmering tension between the haves and have-nots. Once an errant grenade lands on the yacht and a handful of the ensemble wash up on the island, there's the expected reversal. Abigail, a put-upon Filipino maid who wasn't even a major character in the first half, declares herself leader on the island. She's been a server her whole life and, now that fate has tossed everyone into this precarious situation, demands to be the served. She keeps more food and resources for herself, under the logic that she caught it and cooked it, therefore she's entitled to it. This eventually extends to other topics, as she takes Carl as her lover, much to Yaya's (confused and conceited) frustration. 

I'm sure somewhat who has read more Marxist theory then I have could probably assign specific meanings and purposes to each of these characters and turn-of-events. It seems to me that "Triangle of Sadness" is mostly about the cycle of power struggle, of the repressed overturning the ruling class and immediately falling into the same pattern that birthed this situation. The movie is pretty heavy-handed with its ideas and most of the characters are ciphers to convey them. It's notable that colorful performers like Harrelson or the late Charlbi Dean as Yaya can't do much to make their characters living, breathing, compelling people. They are pawns, put in to deliver a certain point and to play off the filmmakers' ironic plot construction. This is probably why "Triangle of Sadness" is nowhere near as funny or biting as "The Square," Östlund's previous film which took a similar approach to the art world. That movie had a fully-formed, relatable protagonist to center its story around while "Triangle of Sadness" is an ensemble piece. Nobody really emerges as human beings we can root for or against. Instead, they are ideas. 

Having said that, I still found plenty to like about "Triangle of Sadness." Östlund knows how to sustain a certain absurd tension just though visuals. A long sequence devoted to the yacht slowly drifting out-of-control, people inside the boat literally sliding back and forth, features many long, continuous shots. The image of a woman, rolling back and forth on the floor of her bathroom while in the throes of food poisoning, is going to stick in my brain for a while. To underscore the weirdo menace of this moment, it’s scored to blaring heavy metal. The contrast between the still, controlled visuals and the surreal events often create an interesting feel to the movie. 

I’m not quite sure if “Triangle of Sadness” totally worked for me. Its characters are kept distant from the viewer, the performers never getting a chance to really bring them to life. The story is so focused on its sociological premise that it looses track of any sort of heart. This is especially evident in the abrupt, and overly ironic, ending. Yet Östlund remains a master of the cinematic arts, creating unforgettably strange visuals with a unique power all their own, both amusing and unsettling. It’s in that uncomfortable place, between laughs and discomfort, that “Triangle of Sadness” really succeeds. I can only assume that the perceived relevance of the story is why it resonated with the Academy so much. Or maybe AMPAS’ tolerance for arthouse sensibilities and off-beat satire has increased in recent years. [6/10]